Though he received plenty of flack throughout the 2009 season for his play calling and some other perceived miscues, Florida Gators offensive coordinator and interim head coach Steve Addazio has been universally praised by the team’s coaching staff and players for his heart, passion, leadership and character. Also propping up Addazio recently are the newest Gators recruits, who are likely not surprised to learn that he has been named ESPN’s college football recruiter of the year (link).

Addazio has been complimented for having a strong hand in keeping Florida’s near-unanimous No. 1-ranked 2010 recruiting class together through a change of heart by head coach Urban Meyer. He also hit the road hard over the past year, personally visiting and gaining commitments from a number of key recruits.

“Steve Addazio is certainly one of the very best recruiters I’ve ever been around,” Meyer said. “He brings the same passion and excellence to the recruiting trail that he does to coaching on the field. Our guys love him because he connects with them and cares about them, and that’s very evident to anyone who spends time around our program.”

Rivals, a college football recruiting service that was the sole party not to rank the Gators’ 2010 class as the best in the nation, also recognized Addazio this week by naming him one of their top 25 recruiters for 2010.

“It’s very difficult just to show up and say you are going to recruit a certain player,” Addazio said. “Recruiting is a relationship business and there are lots of components to it. You have to build relationships. Otherwise, you are a stranger in a strange land. I am one of the guys that has been recruiting the Northeast for that long of a period of time.”

Photo Credit: Dave Martin/Associated Press

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The New York Times‘ Thayer Evans has uncovered the following e-mail sent last month by Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer to Sean Henderson, father of five-star offensive lineman Seantrel Henderson (St. Paul, MN). In it, Meyer says he will be unable to visit the Hendersons but hopes Seantrel can join the Gators’ 2010 recruiting class. Read the article for a contrasting e-mail from the Ohio State Buckeyes.

I hope all is well and I apologize for not being able to make it up there to visit. I tried but my AD and doctor would not allow it. I know your family will be making a life-changing decision in the next few days. I want you to know that he will be taken care of here both as a student and as an athlete. The opportunity to be part of this great Gator Nation with the networking opportunities is unmatched. We have put together the #1 recruiting class in the country and Seantrel is the last missing piece. This class is similar to Tebow, Spikes, and Percy’s class where they wanted to come together to be the best and they did! If you have any questions, I would love to speak w u. Go Gators! Urban

1 » Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyerspoke candidly withThe Gainesville Sun’s Pat Dooley after National Signing Day on Wednesday. He was surprised there was not a worse reaction to his temporary resignation but actually had fun dispelling numerous rumors about his next job. “[Five-star defensive end Ronald Powell called me at 3 a.m. and] wanted to know if I was going to ESPN to replace Lee Corso,” Meyer said. That’s what he had been hearing. I just laughed.” Four-star offensive lineman Chaz Green, Florida’s last commitment, had the same question. In the end, for a man dealing with stress, his 2010 recruiting class gave him the best gift of all: relaxation. “I left my phone on (Tuesday) night but I went to sleep,” he said. “I got up, no messages. What is that? That’s the first time since I have been married I wasn’t on the phone at midnight the day before Signing Day. And we were done with the faxes by noon.”

1 » When former Florida Gators assistant Anthony Grant left the program a few years ago to take over the Virginia Commonwealth Rams, head coach Billy Donovan wished him luck. When Donovan left the team after the 2007 National Championship game, Grant’s name was the first called by Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley to replace the long-time head coach. However, a change of heart by Donovan thurst Grant back to VCU, where he would eventually be tabbed as head coach by the Alabama Crimson Tide. Mentor and assistant will square-off for the first time Thursday in Tuscaloosa, AL. “You never like to play against one of your friends, but Anthony and I have a great relationship,” Donovan said.

2 » Speaking of Donovan, his frontcourt players from those championship seasons (and even the year after) have been experiencing a lot of success in the NBA recently. Philadelphia 76ers center Marreese Speights spoke with the Philadelphia Daily News about how genuinely happy he is that former teammate and now Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah is finding success in the pros. “He and a lot of the other guys were really good at watching out for me when I first got to Florida,” Speights said. “That meant a lot. It’s good to see him doing so well in the league, but it’s not surprising. He always has had a great work ethic, trying to improve his game in every way. He improved a lot in college, from not playing a lot as a freshman to becoming someone who could have been taken with the first overall pick.”

Florida Gators fans were hearing for weeks that their team would lock up one of (if not the single) greatest recruiting class ever by the end of National Signing Day on Feb. 3. They were told that this distinction would be unanimous due to the Gators’ head-scratching number of five- and four-star commitments and the top-to-bottom quality of their class.

While ESPNU and Scout both hailed Florida’s 2010 recruiting class as tops in the country, Rivals turned its collective cheek on the Gators and awarded their best class distinction to the USC Trojans on the heels of two big-time commitments.

Much of the following post was originally published on OGGOA on Oct. 22, 2009.

Behind [former] starting quarterback Tim Tebow and redshirt sophomore John Brantley is Jordan Reed, a four-star freshman who committed to the Florida Gators in August 2008. Knowing Brantley would be starting ahead of him for at least two seasons, Reed was expected to back him up while simultaneously learning the ins-and-outs of the position.

Head coach Urban Meyer first mentioned on Oct. 22 that Reed may be catching passes in the future instead of throwing them. In fact, numerous beat writers reported that Reed ran wide receiver and tight end routes during pre-game practice for the Arkansas Razorbacks game. At 6’3″ and 235 pounds with a 4.5 second 40-yard dash, Reed certainly has all of the physical attributes to succeed as a playmaker.

“[Reed’s] a very good athlete,” Meyer said back in October. “We have to find a way to get him on the field someday, and [he has] pretty good hands and can run. We’re experimenting right now. He’s still a quarterback.”

During his 2010 National Signing Day press conference, Meyer indicated that Reed’s position change is imminent. This allowed Florida the flexibility to recruit another passer.

“We feel like Jordan Reed is going to move to tight end,” Meyer said. “We wanted to look for a dual position player and found that in [three-star QB] Tyler Murphy.”

Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer spoke with members of the media after receiving all 28 letters of intent for his team’s unanimous No. 1-ranked 2010 recruiting class. The following is a transcript of the press conference, courtesy of the University of Florida’s University Athletic Association.Continue Reading » Urban Meyer on Florida’s 2010 recruiting class

Five-star defensive end Ronald Powell on ESPNU’s College Football Recruiting Insider:

Head coach Urban Meyer on ESPNU’s College Football Recruiting Insider:

On ranking his class: “I don’t rate it as a class yet, I think that’s down the road – three or four years. But there’s certain elements of this class: size and the defensive line. It’s one of the best I’ve ever seen with Ron Powell, Lynden Trail, Leon Orr, Dominique Easley and Sharrif Floyd. Not just great players, but great people. A good work ethic, good leadership qualities. There are certain areas that I like better than others, but I think our defensive front [is one of them]. That’s where college football is played and that’s where you start on defense.”

On who excites him the most: “We got a tailback named Mack Brown – probably the highest-rated tailback we’ve signed here at Florida, in our tenure here. It’s a guy that we needed, a guy that we had to have. He made a commitment. Nowadays, when you make a commitment, at least you know you’re in the top four. He made a commitment to Florida – didn’t take another trip. Really classy family. Hardworker. Has battled some injuries too, but we’re counting on him to be a big-time playmaker sooner than later for us.”

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